It was another ill-omened day in 1650 when James Graham, Marquess of Montrose was led to the scaffold. Originally a Covenanter (resisting the authority of bishops from the Church of England), Montrose became one of King
He either fears his fate too much,Not for nothing is he known in Scotland simply as the Great Montrose.
Or his desserts are small,
Who dares not put it to the touch,
To win or lose it all.
But even as inspiring a legacy as Montrose's wasn't enough to change the bad luck associated with May 21. In 1946, a Plutonium experiment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory went horribly wrong. One of the problems with the World War II Atomic Bombs was that a large amount of fissile material was needed. The experiment was investigating whether by reflecting emitted neutrons back into the Plutonium, the efficiency of the device could be increased (and less material needed). The experiment used two hollow half spheres of Beryllium, surrounding what became known as the "Demon Core" - a sub-critical sphere of Plutonium (an amount too small to form a "Critical" - explosive - mass).
Well, it turns out that Beryllium was just a dandy reflector of neutrons, and the sub-critical mass scooted almost all the way over to "critical", which is a Very Bad Thing Indeed when you have eight nuclear physicists in the experiment room. Quick thinking by Louis Slotin pulled the spheres apart, but he got a fatal dose of radiation poisoning for his trouble, lingering nine days before shuffling off to join Louis V and the Great Montrose, perhaps to bitch about what a lousy day May 21 is.
Hope your day goes better.
UPDATE 21 May 2010 09:34: Bob in the comments points out that it was king Charles, not king James. Obviously, this is an ill-omened day.
5 comments:
According to my Today in History app, today was also the day Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross; the day Charles Lindburgh crossed the Atlantic; and the day Amelia Earheart crossed the Atlantic. So it's a good day to fly, and then get bandaged up afterward :)
I think it was Charles I, not James, who was executed by Cromwell.
Hey BP,
Have you ever read the "1632" series (started by Eric Flint)? With your interest in military history it might interest you.
The story is that a present day West Virginia town gets zapped back into time to the year 1632, at the height of the 30 years' war. They end up palling up with Gustavus Adolphus and going up against Richelieu and the Spanish. Great series, and you'd probably like it.
Danimal, I don't read much fiction any more - it's been maybe 5 years since I read any.
That said, you're right - this might be right up my alley.
I learn Montrose's Toast from The General by SM Stirling and David Drake (later expanded upon). Another one you'd like, IMHO - also including much kipling
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